Some of the basic rules behind the beautiful game:
Dimensions of football
All defenders will tell you stopping goals is the most important thing in football.
Talk to a striker and you'll be reminded they're the ones with the most important job!
A team obviously needs both. But the simple truth is that you can't win a game without hittting the back of the net with the ball.
Here are some of the basic rules.
All players must be in their own half at the kick-off and the first touch of the ball must go forward.
The game is restarted after a goal in exactly the same way, from the centre-spot, and also at the start of the second half.
It is also allowed to score directly from the kick-off.
GAME DURATIONS
All the football pundits say it, don't they? "It only takes a second to score."
That means there could be 5,400 goals in a game. Nonsense, of course, but the magic number is 90 - at senior level anyway.
There are 90 magical minutes to score all those goals, which are split between two halves of 45 minutes.
Then there is a break of up to 15 minutes at half-time for a breather and a chance for the manager to throw the tea cups about.
Additional time is allowed by the referee at the end of each half to make up for time lost through substitutions and treatment of injured players.
In cup competitions, extra-time is often played if the score is still level.
Depending on the competition, this consists of two periods of no more than 15 minutes each.
Still no goals after 30 minutes? Then it's down to the dreaded penalty shoot-out!
Dimensions of football